Tips & Tricks, Boat wiring connections

Alot of us here modify our boats and wiring is usually involved. It is really tough to keep connections water tight and secure. One of the things I use alot are SolderLocs, Its used like a wire nut for making connections between two or more wires. The beauty of the SolderLoc is in it's design, it's like an exposed wire nut with a solder ring around it, encased in heat shrink with epoxy in the open end. You just chose the correct size for the wires, twist the wires together and insert them into the SolderLoc and twist it on as if it were a wire nut. Now heat the solder ring with a butane soldering torch and watch for the solder to run, then continue heating down the shrink tube to shrink it tight and the epoxy will melt sealing the open end where the wires were inserted. It is about as permanent and watertight a connection as you can get. They can be found at about any electrical supply house.Heat shrink tubing (with epoxy coating inside) and liquid tape are other items I use alot, especially when attaching a terminal to a wire. I'll bare my wire, slide on a piece of heat shrink tubing, and attach my stake on or solder on terminal, then seal the terminal where the wire is exposed on the end with liquid tape. After the liquid tape dries I'll slip the heat shrink tubing up and shrink it onto the terminal and wire, the epoxy inside melts and glues the connection together and the liquid tape seals the open end where the terminal sticks out. This is a very watertight and strong connection.Need a quick inline fuse? Cut into your hot wire, slide on a 2 " piece of heat shrink tube over the ends bundled together, and attach a couple of insulated female spade connectors using the method I described above. Shrink the heat shrink tube on about an inch below the connectors to hold the package together, and plug in the appropriate size ATC style fuse. Quick, easy, and it works!These are just a few things I do to make sure the job stays done. I hope it helps someone out.